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Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu rec.arts.disney:11446 news.answers:4726 Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!mojo.eng.umd.edu!darwin.sura.net!mlb.semi.harris.com!uflorida!purdue!haven.umd.edu!uunet!seismo!tanida From: tanida@forseti.css.gov (Tom Tanida) Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney,news.answers Subject: rec.arts.disney FAQ, part 1a Summary: FAQ for rec.arts.disney Keywords: FAQ, disney Message-ID: <51656@seismo.CSS.GOV> Date: 16 Dec 92 22:44:36 GMT Expires: 16 Dec 92 22:44:36 GMT Sender: usenet@seismo.CSS.GOV Reply-To: tanida@esosun.css.gov (Tom Tanida) Followup-To: rec.arts.disney Lines: 645 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Nntp-Posting-Host: beno.css.gov Originator: tanida@beno.CSS.GOV Archive-name: disney-faq/part1a Last-modified: 16 Dec 1992 Frequently Asked Questions List For rec.arts.disney, part 1 Version 1.4, last revised 12/16/92 This is part one of the FAQ file for rec.arts.disney. I have tried to include the questions and threads which arise most often, as well as some interesting facts. Most of the information came from articles posted to rec.arts.disney since July 1990, about the time the group was started, although I'm missing quite a few articles from early on. Other information came from various books and magazines. Your input to this list is highly appreciated. The purpose of this list is to reduce the number of redundant questions posted to rec.arts.disney, and to provide a source of information to Disney fans worldwide. Personally, however, I would invite discussion of questions included in this list if this list is not complete enough. For example, one of the questions lists the voices of popular Disney characters and where to find more info, but if the character is not listed here, I would still encourage you to post and ask, especially if the character is more obscure. Also, I couldn't possibly write the "complete guide to taking kids to the Disney Theme Parks" because there is no truly complete guide. Although I have offered some information and advice in part two of this list (the information which is most commonly suggested), I would still welcome discussion of the topic since everybody has their own opinions about what rides to go on, what to see, when to go, what restaurants to eat at in the area, etc. Again, however, I hope that this list will reduce the amount of redundant information posted to the net. I also hope this list will provide a unified source of information about Disney related material and provide a valuable reference for all. This is part one of the list, consisting of general topics and questions, as well as some time critical information. Part two of the list, which is contained in a separate article, contains topics and questions related to the theme parks, as well as miscellaneous trivia. There are three sub-parts: 1) A list of the questions in this part 2) Answers to General Questions 3) Answers to Questions with Time-critical information Send comments, corrections, suggestions, and inside information to: tanida@esosun.css.gov. I am sure that no matter how long I work on this that it will never be perfect, but it doesn't hurt to try. :-) If you prefer CompuServe access, I'm at 76655,344. On Prodigy I'm xgsn74a. On America On-Line, I'm TomTanida. On the Sierra Network, I'm at mailbox 2173. (Now all I need is GEnie and MCI Mail.) If you would like a PostScript version of this document, which has much better formatting, feel free to send me a request; I can either mail it to you, or we can find a mutual FTP site. This document was originally created in MS Word For Windows 2.0. Part I- Questions General questions: 1) What are the Disney animated feature films? Which of the films have been released on videocassette? 2) Where can I get a copy of {Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, other hard to find video(s)}? 3) Where can I get Disney-related GIF (JPEG, etc.) pictures? 4) What are serigraph cels? Are they "real" cels? 5) What art galleries sell Disney cels? 6) To what degree are computers being used in Disney animated films today? 6b) Since computers are being used quite a bit in Disney films now, does that mean there are no "genuine" cels from the movies? 7) I heard that Walt Disney is in cryogenic suspension. Is this true? 8) Who did the voice of {Ariel, Belle, my favorite Disney character}? 9) How do I get a job working for Disney? 10) Is Goofy a dog, a horse, or what? 11) How can I get the song lyrics to {The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc.}? 12) What are the Magic Kingdom Club benefits? 13) What are the stockholder benefits? 14) What is Club 33? 15) What are the names of Ariel's sisters in The Little Mermaid? 16) What are the Disney Stores? 17) Who are the "nine old men"? 18) Who are the current Disney animators? 19) Where can I get the movie poster for {Beauty and the Beast, other Disney movie}? 20) Where can I find a particular Disney book? How can I find an original version of a book that Disney adapted into a movie? 21) I remember a scene from Peter Pan where Tinkerbell is dying (having borne the brunt of the explosion from Captain Hook's trick present to Peter), and the audience is asked to clap to bring her back to life. Why isn't it on the Disney video? 22) What was the first Disney film ever to receive a PG rating? 99) Where can I get more Disney info? - Includes books, publications, computer services, phone numbers, and addresses Timely information: 1) What Disney shows/auctions/events are coming up? 2) What are some of the upcoming movie and video releases from the Walt Disney studios? Part II - Answers to General Questions 1) What are the Disney animated feature films? Which of the films have been released on videocassette? Here is the *official* list, numbered and listed in chronological order. Other notable Disney films with Disney animation are included after the list. The factors in what constitutes an "animated feature film" are the amount of screen time with animation on it, the total length of the film, the quality of the animation, and what kind of a mood the person at the Disney studios is in when they make the decision. With each film, I have made some notes regarding video release, Academy Awards, and other trivia. 1) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (12/21/1937) - Granted a special Academy Award for screen innovation in 1938. 2) Pinocchio (02/07/1940) - Released on video (US) in 1986, the first Disney animated feature film to be released for sell-through. Won the Oscar for Best Song ("When You Wish Upon a Star"), and Best Original Score. 3) Fantasia (11/13/1940) - Released on video and LaserDisc (US) in 1991. The Academy granted a special award to Leopold Stokowski for "widening the scope of the motion picture as entertainment and as an art form" in 1941. The music was conducted by Leopold Stokowski, and the narrator was Deems Taylor. Fantasia was re-released in 1982 with an Irwin Kostal conducted soundtrack and narration by Hugh Douglas, but was subsequently restored. 4) Dumbo (10/23/1941) - Released on video (US) in 1987. Won an Oscar for "Scoring of a Musical Picture" in 1941. 5) Bambi (08/13/1942) - Released on video (US) in 1988. Also released on LaserDisc. 6) Saludos Amigos (02/06/1943) 7) The Three Caballeros (02/03/1945) - Released on video (US) in 1988 (?). This is somewhat of a sequel to Saludos Amigos. 8) Make Mine Music (08/15/1946) - Almost like a second Fantasia, but featuring more popular music in 10 shorter sequences, which lack the depth that Fantasia had. The excellent 'Clair De Lune' sequence in this film was originally intended to be included in Fantasia. It also included "Casey at the Bat." Parts of this film have been released separately on video, under the titles "Willie, the Operatic Whale" and "Peter and the Wolf". This film was never reissued in its original form. 9) Fun and Fancy Free (09/27/1947) - Contained the two stories "Mickey and the Beanstalk" and "Bongo," each of which have been recently released on video. 10) Melody Time (05/27/1948) - Some miscellaneous stories, including: a story based on Johnny Appleseed; "Little Toot" (a tugboat); "Blame It On the Samba", featuring Donald Duck and Jose Carioca from The Three Caballeros; and "Bumble-Boogie," a jazz version of Flight of the Bumblebee. This film was somewhat of a sequel to Make Mine Music, and also was never re-released in its original form. 11) The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (10/05/1949) - Released on video as separate short films, under the titles "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Wind in the Willows." 12) Cinderella (02/15/1950) - Released on video (US) in 1988. It has been said that this was Walt Disney's favorite film. 13) Alice in Wonderland (07/28/1951) - Released on video (US) in 1988 (?). Also released on LD. 14) Peter Pan (02/05/1953) - Released on video (US) in 1989. Also released on LD. 15) Lady and the Tramp (06/22/1955) - Released on video (US) in 1987. 16) Sleeping Beauty (01/29/1959) - Released on video (US) in 1987. 17) 101 Dalmatians (01/25/1961) - Released on video (US) in April, 1992. 18) The Sword in the Stone (12/25/1963) - Released on video (US) in 1988 (?). 19) The Jungle Book (10/18/1967) - Released on video (US) in 1991. Also released on LD. This was the last film that Walt Disney worked on, as he died prior to its release. 20) The Aristocats (12/24/1970)- Never released on video. 21) Robin Hood (11/08/1973) - Released on video (US) for rental in 1986; re-released on video and LD for sell-through in 1991. 22) The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (03/11/1977) - This was a compilation of the three stories "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966), "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1969), and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974). All of these have been released on video. 23) The Rescuers (06/22/1977)- This film was the last that was developed by the original (Walt) generation of Disney lead animators. It was very successful in Europe during it's initial release. It is currently available on video, and should be out on LD (non-letterboxed) shortly. 24) The Fox and the Hound (07/10/1981)- At one time the film was stated by Disney publicists to be the 20th, then the 25th animated feature film. The first major effort by the "new generation" of Disney artists. 25) The Black Cauldron (07/24/1985)- This was the first film to be released in 70mm since Sleeping Beauty. Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew, returned to the studios to contribute to the screenplay. The film suffered from delays and a then record-cost of $25 million. 26) The Great Mouse Detective (07/02/1986) - Score by Henry Mancini. This was released on video during the Summer of 1992. 27) Oliver and Company (11/18/1988)- Made $54M in it's initial release, which at the time was the highest box-office gross of any animated film in its first theatrical run. 28) The Little Mermaid (11/17/1989) - Released on video (US) in 1990; also available on LD. Won the Academy Awards for Best Original Score, and Best Song ("Under the Sea"). Grossed $89M in its initial US release. 29) The Rescuers Down Under (11/10/1990) - Nationally released on 11/23/90. Released on video and LD (US) in 1991. Disney's first official animated sequel. Grossed around $28M in its initial US release. 30) Beauty and the Beast (11/15/1991) - Was nationally released on 11/23/91 and will be released on video in the US at the end of October, 1992. Cost $30 million to produce. It won the Academy Awards for Best Original Score, and Best Song (title track), and was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture. In the first 42 weeks of its US release, this film grossed $144.725 million, and sold 1 million copies of the video nationwide by the end of its first day of release (10/30/92). 31) Aladdin (11/11/92). Was nationally released on 11/25/92. This features songs by the late Howard Ashman. The score was done by Alan Menken. Since Ashman passed away before this film was completed, Tony Award winner Tim Rice was hired to complete some songs for the film. Ashman wrote the lyrics to the songs Arabian Nights, Friend Like Me, and Prince Ali. Rice wrote the lyrics to One Jump Ahead, A Whole New World, and Prince Ali (reprise). This film reportedly cost $35 million to produce. 32) The Lion King (summer 1994)- Tim Rice and Elton John are working on the soundtrack for this film, set in Africa and telling the story of a young lion cub who finds himself awkwardly thrown into a new role as "king" of the jungle. 33) Pocohontas (late 1994)- Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz are working on the soundtrack for this film. Here are some notable films and shorts that didn't make the Disney studio's official list. Because of space constraints, many shorts have been omitted. Ferdinand the Bull (1938) - Released on video with "Willie, the Operatic Whale." The Reluctant Dragon (06/20/1941) - Released on video. Victory Through Air Power (07/17/1943) Song of the South (11/02/1946) - This has been released on video in Europe and Japan. It won an Oscar for Best Song ("Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"). In addition, a special award was given to James Baskett for his role as Uncle Remus. So Dear To My Heart (01/19/49) - Features Bobby Driscoll, who was the child actor in Song of the South, and who had provided the voice of Peter Pan. Set in 1903, it has much of the style of Song of the South in its mix of live-action and animation. It was released on video in the US in early October, 1992. Lambert, the Sheepish Lion (1952) - Released on video with "Willie, the Operatic Whale." Mary Poppins (08/27/64) - Nominated for Best Picture. This was Julie Andrews' first movie, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Mary Poppins also won for Best Song ("Chim-Chim- Cher-ee"), Best Score, Film Editing, and Special Visual Effects. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (10/07/71) - Won an Oscar for Special Visual Effects. This has been released on video. Pete's Dragon (11/03/77) - Released on video in 1991. The Small One (1978) - A short film directed by Don Bluth. Tron (1982)- Significant for its use of computer graphics and effects. This was released to the rental markets on video some time ago. Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - Available on video. Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983) - Available on video. The Brave Little Toaster (1988) - Released on video in 1991. The animation for this was done by Hyperion Pictures, not Disney. DuckTales: The Movie (1990) - Released on video. Although full length, this isn't included because it did not meet "classic" animation standards (whatever that means). The Prince and the Pauper (11/23/1990) - This was released in the theaters with The Rescuers Down Under. It was released on video in 1991. Many films have been released in Japan and elsewhere on LaserDisc, and such versions can be obtained via US dealers. Films in this category include: Lady and the Tramp, Song of the South, Dumbo, Sword in the Stone, Peter Pan, and Mary Poppins (in letterboxed format). Here are a couple of dealers who may carry these titles: Laser Land 1035 S. Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd. Campbell, CA (408)-253-3733 (San Francisco Bay Area) Laser & Video 8780 Warner Avenue #9 Fountain Valley, CA 92708 (800)-342-9715 (mention you're looking for an import disc) 2) Where can I get a copy of {Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, other hard to find video(s)}? In general, the "premium" Disney animated feature films are released for a limited time. Like The Little Mermaid, that "limited time" may be a matter of two years and 8.5 million copies, but after Disney decides to stop taking orders and all the copies are sold, they are not replenished. The only way to get the videos are: to search smaller, more obscure video stores that might have some left over; to buy from somebody who has one and is willing to sell (check out your favorite Disneyana convention- there are often sellers there); to buy one from a used video store where somebody, by some offbeat chance, has sold it to the store; to buy one from a place that rents videos, and has multiple copies of the video you want (you might have to negotiate with the owner); or to rent it and keep it and take the extraordinarily high charge and whatever other penalty video stores dole out for people who don't return their videos. It might be hard to find a good copy of an older film. Films known to be out of print: Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Cinderella, Fantasia (although this can still be easily found). Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid have just about disappeared. The Jungle Book is also on moratorium. Pinocchio is due to be re-released in March 1993. Will Disney re-release the movies? It's all up to speculation. Some contemplate a video re-release every 7 years or so, like the movies themselves into the theaters; I've heard "official" Disney sources say "never again," but similar sources have said that Fantasia would never be released onto video, and that became the best selling video and LaserDisc of all time. Only time will tell. 3) Where can I get Disney-related GIF (JPEG, etc.) pictures? There are many Disney GIFs floating around, but there isn't any official way to get them. Here are some common methods, however: Internet FTP- There isn't any "official" site for Disney GIFs. Many GIFs sites have some in their collection. tezuka.rest.ri.cmu.edu (128.2.209.227) has quite a few GIFs dedicated to the Disney Afternoon. garfield.catt.ncsu.edu (152.1.43.23; GIFs, Disney related text files) is a good source for other Disney GIFs. Temporarily, due to space limitations at garfield, there are some GIFs located at atbmac1.larc.nasa.gov (128.155.18.23), in pub/graphics, thanks to Phillip Morris, p.e.morris@larc.nasa.gov. There are also a few at wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4), although you might have to search. If you know of others, please send me their name (and IP address, if you have it), and I'll mention them here. alt.binaries.pictures - This newsgroup will carry uuencoded versions of GIFs. The biggest problem with finding and distributing is that not all news sites carry this group. CompuServe- CompuServe has several graphics forums that carry Disney GIFs. One is the FLORIDA forum, which has a couple of Disney-dedicated sections. Others include the COMART (Computer Art), QPICS (Quick Pics), and GALLERY (Graphics Gallery) forums (type GO GRAPHICS to see them all). The biggest problem with CompuServe is that connect time is $12.80/hour at 2400 baud, and $22.80/hour at 9600 baud. This can make the GIFs quite expensive. As a side note here, I'd like to mention that in early 1990, all Disney GIFs were removed by CIS (CompuServe Information Services) due to legal concerns (they removed the GIFs voluntarily- not because Disney pressured them to do so). After a period of time had gone by, Disney GIFs were allowed onto the forums again, as they had made an agreement with Disney that allowed CIS to carry GIFs of Disney characters, and gave Disney the right to disallow any given images at any time. However, as of this writing, Disney GIFs are no longer allowed into the Graphics Forums (COMART, QPICS, etc), without express permission from the Disney company. All GIFs in the FLORIDA forum are pre-screened and are approved by Disney, and generally feature theme park related images. America On-Line- AOL has quite a few GIFs that I haven't seen elsewhere, contributed by it's members. This service is an "up-and-coming" alternative to Prodigy. It costs $5.95/hour (with a $5.95 monthly minimum that includes one hour of free service). The user interface is quite nice (based on the GEOS software), but the file transfer protocol is a bit slow, (though improved recently, and features multiple downloads in version 1.5), and you don't get a choice of protocols to use (you have to run their proprietary software, like Prodigy). The Disney BBS - A bulletin board, run by Disney. It's number is: (818)-567-4027. 4) What are serigraph cels? Are they "real" cels? Serigraph cels are not real cels. The serigraph process involves creating a master cel by hand and then using a serigraph machine, which lays down the colors, to make copies. It is a normal art process (meaning that serigraphs are "art"), but in general, I wouldn't invest in serigraphs hoping to make huge amounts of money like those who deal with real cels. The current rate for Disney serigraphs is $250 for "limited-editions" of 2500 pieces. They are generally unnumbered. Disney has also released a line of hand-painted cels and backgrounds, around the price of $2000-3000 each. These too are NOT cels- they are painted by artists in the Disney Studio Art Program. These are *numbered*- i.e. you can see a number on the cel that looks like "322/500", which means that the one you are looking at is number 322 out of an edition size of 500. Some of the releases in this program include: a scene from Fantasia (Ben Ali Gator holding the Hyacinth Hippo aloft); a excellent Lady and the Tramp (Lady and the Tramp at the spaghetti table); a scene from Pinocchio (the Blue Fairy looking at both Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio on Gepetto's bench); a scene from 101 Dalmatians (Pongo, Perdita, and puppies watching TV). Only the cels are hand-painted; the backgrounds are lithographed (reproduced). There are others as well. Here is a description of the different cel types sold by the Disney Art Program taken from a brochure on Disney animation art from the Disneyana store on Main Street at Disneyland: Production Cels - Original production cels are colorful paintings on acetate, created by studio artists, then photographed and actually used in a film or television program action sequence. Disney Art Editions offers these one-of-a-kind cels taken from more recent feature films and television programs. Hand-Inked-Line Limited-Edition Cels - Since few production cels from earlier animated features and shorts exist, Disney recreates cels of the most classic moments in limited editions. Hand-inked-line cels are made using traditional animation techniques, exactly as the production cels were originally made for so many classic Disney films. This includes tracing an animation drawing onto acetate by hand with different color inks and hand- painting it with gum or acrylic-based colors formulated exclusively in Disney laboratories. The work is done by a small cadre of Disney artists who have kept this almost-forgotten art alive. Some hand-inked-line cels are also combined with backgrounds. Xerographic-Line Limited-Edition Cels - Xerographic-line cels, instead of being hand-inked, are created by transferring the original animation drawing to the acetate cels by a special six-step xerographic process, a refinement pioneered by Walt Disney Studios in the late 1950s. 101 Dalmatians was the first feature film to be created entirely with this revolutionary process. Many of the cels are then enhanced with hand-inked lines before being painted with Disney colors and combined with a lithographic background. Serigraph Cels - Serigraph cels, or sericels, recreate images of Disney's famed cast of characters. To produce a sericel, Disney artists create a hand-inked, hand-colored painting or model of Disney characters, which is then transferred to the acetate cel by a silk-screen printing process known as serigraphy. Notes from the brochure glossary: Cel: An outline, or line drawing, of a character and sometimes certain special effects, either hand-inked or xerographically transferred onto a clear sheet of cellulose acetate. The image is then painted on the back side of the sheet. Cels are mostly in two standard sizes: a 12-field, about 12 by 10 inches; or 16-field, approximately 16 by 12 inches. Background: A painting of a scene to be used as a background for the animated action. Thousands of cels may be photographed over a single background to create one scene in an animated film. A production background is one actually used in a film. Cel Set-Up: One or more cels overlaid on a background. Animation Drawing: A pencil drawing on animation paper, created by the animator and used as the basis for an image on a cel. Storyboard Drawing: A drawing or story sketch made for the storyboard, which conveys visually the original plot and action. The storyboard serves as a preliminary guide for those working on the film. Publicity Cel: A cel not actually used in a film, but created instead solely for publicity or promotional purposes. Limited-Edition Cel: A cel created specifically for the collector market in a pre-determined quantity. Model Sheets: Drawings of a grouping of characters or a single character in a variety of attitudes and expressions, create as a reference guide for animators. 5) What art galleries sell Disney cels? Before I give you the list, I'll say a few words of advice about cel collecting that echoes what many people have said on rec.arts.disney over the years (or months): Buy only what you like. Don't get caught up in "auction fever." Many cels may not be worth close to their asking price. Make sure you check the condition of the cel closely. Cels that involve popular scenes and characters, and have good views of the characters (e.g. frontal view, both eyes showing) will be worth more. Shop around. Negotiate. If you're interested in more advice, I'd recommend getting a copy of Storyboard magazine. For info about getting this magazine, see question #99 below. There are several types of cel set-ups available (listed here in rough order of cost, from cheapest to most expensive): Full reproductions (e.g. serigraphs, or hand-painted reproductions, such as those discussed in question #3); actual movie cels with no backgrounds; actual movie cels with lithographed (reproduced backgrounds); and actual movie cels with real backgrounds. Some galleries also carry drawings, storyboards, etc. There are actually quite a few galleries. Many are owned by people who are simply interested in the field, like you and me; they're not necessarily "big time" operations. Here is a list I've drawn up (by no means complete). I've only listed phone numbers so that you can call and get information regarding addresses/catalog pricing/etc. Many places have free catalogs. I personally can't vouch for any of them, as I haven't ordered anything except catalogs from any of these places (you might just want to post to rec.arts.disney, and see what others who have had experience buying cels might suggest). Most of these were obtained from Storyboard magazine. I welcome additions to this list. Gallery Phone All American (800)-872-8850 (Fair Lawn, NJ) Collectibles Animation Alley (800)-772-8666, (714)-776-8666 (Anaheim, CA) The Animation (416)-928-2357 Celection Animation Source (203)-776-7111 (New Haven, CT) ArtWorks (800)-535-5070 (Alexandria, VA) C.A. Brooks (516)-487-3556 (New York, NY) Animation Art The Cartoon Art (800)-245-6633 (Indian Wells, CA) Store Cartoon Kingdom (609)-243-9960 (Princeton, NJ) The Cel Block (800)-334-8799 (New Hope, PA) Circle Gallery (several branches, including the Disneyland Hotel complex) Cricket Gallery (800)-BUY-CELS (Atlanta, GA) Collector's (818)-785-4080 (Studio City, CA) Paradise Gallery C (919)-828-3165 (Raleigh, NC) Gallery In Motion (800)-788-0445 (Kansas City, MO) Howard Lowery (818)-972-9080 (Burbank, CA) Leslie Brooks (718)-279-3861 (Little Neck, NY) Lewis Gallery (805)-584-8462 (Simi Valley, CA) Lynne Novick (609)-653-0770 (Linwood, NJ) Magic Moments (603)-883-9770, (603)-888-3457 (Nashua, NH) Marina Fine Arts (310)-305-7678 (Marina Del Rey, CA) Mike Cluff's (805)-927-1250 (Cambria, CA) M.j.Manfred (412)-561-6665 (Pittsburgh, PA) Mostly Art (203)-348-6270 (Stamford, CT) Phillips (212)-570-4830 (New York, NY) Collectibles Russ Wolkoff (818)-752-1755 (Los Angeles, CA) San Francisco (800)-8DAFFY8, (415)-441-8900 (S.F., CA) Animated Art, Inc. Saturday Morning (518)-482-5405 Animation Scott & Leslie's (714)-538-6893 (Orange, CA) Seaside Art (919)-441-5418 (Nags Head, NC) Silver Stone (310)-598-7600 (Long Beach, CA) Gallery Stabur Corp. (800)-346-8940, (313)-425-7940 (Livonia, MI) Stay Tooned Gallery (708)-382-2357 (Barrington, IL), (708)-234-3231 (Lake Forest, IL) Sweatbox Art (408)-225-9698 (San Jose, CA) Toys To Go (215)-649-2555, (215)-649-8444 (Ardmore, PA) Vintage Animation (213)-393-8666 (Santa Monica, CA) Gallery Cels are also sold at the Disney theme parks. Serigraphs and cels are sold at the Disney Stores (see question #14). The Disney Store was selling a line of production cels with reproduced backgrounds from The Little Mermaid. 6) To what degree are computers being used in Disney animated films today? There seems to be a lot of confusion on this issue, partly because Disney seems to be trying to remain at least a little secretive about the exact processes they use. But here's some information obtained and consolidated from various sources, including the periodical Computer Graphics World and some reference books on Disney animation and computer graphics. Much of the computer graphics work is done by the artists at Disney's Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) department in Glendale, CA. There were 14 animators and software engineers there for the production of Beauty and the Beast (they're listed in the credits). Computers are used for several different purposes in Disney animation. One purpose is to process the colorization of the "cels" (I put that in quotes because while there still are pre-production cels, they don't look like the final product- more on this in a moment). Another purpose for computers is for the generation of backgrounds. A third purpose is for the generation of certain types of animated objects. A fourth purpose is for simple modeling. There are probably others. The colorization and compositing of the characters is the most notable use, as it represents the biggest change in the state of the art of Disney animation. In the past, the animators would draw an image on the cel, and pass the cel on to be carefully colored by hand. (Note that after Sleeping Beauty, however, Disney animators drew on paper, frame by frame, and had their drawings transferred to cels via a xerography process to be individually colored.) Note that, in general, consecutive cels would use the same colors (i.e. although a particular character wouldn't always be the same color during the entire film depending on light and shadow, or other Disney magic, the next frame of animation is often times very similar to the frame before it). This represented a lot of redundancy. With modern computer graphics, this process can be eliminated, speeding up the rate of output significantly. The title for the new system is CAPS, which stands for "Computer Animation Production System." Animators' drawings are transferred directly to a computer, where the computer colors the image based on color models. This is not an automatic process, but a given palette can be repeatedly applied by the computer artist far more quickly than an artist can color a bunch of cels by hand. The last scene from The Little Mermaid (Ariel and Eric kissing) used the process. Most, if not all, of The Rescuers Down Under, and all of Beauty and the Beast used the process. This is *not* to say there is no coloring of cels; models are needed for the computer. In addition, there is still quite a bit of cleanup work done by hand (though most of the final cleanup in done on computer). There are other advantages of the process as well. Since the images are effectively digitized in a computer, they can be manipulated and merged at will. The impressive multiplane (3D) effect at the opening of Beauty and the Beast, where the camera travels through a forest past an animated waterfall took advantage of the CAPS process; in the past, a multiplane effect would be difficult at best. For example, the final scene in the "Ave Maria" sequence from Fantasia, involved building a horizontal camera crane, moving the camera along a track "through" panes of glass on which the images of the forest, cathedral, and sunburst at the end, with the panes of glass being yanked out of the way when they became out of focus. Since then, multiplane techniques have improved, but none of these is as easy as simply using a computer to move and blur images in pseudo-3D space. Other advantages of CAPS include: the ability to easily blur images that are "out of focus" relative to the camera position, to blend (e.g. the blush on Belle's cheeks) and to intricately shade the characters (e.g. Belle and the Beast dancing in the ballroom- you were watching them, not the spinning background, right? :-) ); and to combine images of different sizes seamlessly (i.e. you can draw the image at any size and enlarge/shrink to fit as necessary). Other miscellaneous benefits include access to a wider range of colors (if you've used any 24-bit color computer paint/DTP program on a Mac or PC, you can see how this works- you get 16.7 million exact colors versus whatever number you can come up with just mixing paint), and the coloring of the lines that border the characters (note the black lines that border the characters in films after Sleeping Beauty- a Xerox process was used that introduced this- it was something that annoyed Walt Disney when it was introduced, but it helped speed up the production rate). Another significant use of computers is the generation of backgrounds. Although 99% of the backgrounds are painted (and colored) by hand (and then entered into the CAPS system), there are some notable exceptions. (Note that for a background, it's not necessarily better to color by computer since an artist can paint with a brush just as well, if not better, and there isn't a lot of redundancy since the same background is repeatedly used; incidentally, there were 1300 background created by 14 artists for Beauty and the Beast.) The most notable exception to date is probably the ballroom in Beauty and the Beast. The spinning ballroom sequence was first choreographed using Wavefront Technologies software on an SGI machine, then modeled in 3D using the Alias software and finally rendered frame by frame using the Renderman software (probably using some form of distributed processing, or at least rendering different images on different computers). The animators' drawings of Belle and the Beast were then merged normally using CAPS. In addition, a computer-rendered table was used in the "Be Our Guest" sequence (the scene where Mrs. Potts is singing, with little tea- cups circling her). The staircase that Ariel runs down before first seeing Eric with Vanessa in The Little Mermaid also was generated via computer. Yet another use of computers is for certain types of 3D objects. The modeling and rendering process is similar to that of the Beauty and the Beast ballroom. Some examples include: the gears in The Great Mouse Detective during the chase scene at the climax; the carriage in The Little Mermaid, external views of the villain's vehicle, and the Sydney opera house in The Rescuers Down Under; the dancing forks on the cake chandeliers in the "Be Our Guest" sequence in Beauty and the Beast. A final, minor use of computers, would be for simple modeling. For example, the ship at the beginning of The Little Mermaid was wireframe modeled on computers, but was drawn by hand. I'm sure the Disney artists have found other ways to use computers to assist them, much in the same way they might use clay models to visualize various objects, such as the characters themselves. (I'd be interested in hearing about other uses, by the way. In fact, if there's a Disney artist out there reading this who has anything to add to this description in general... :-) ) 6b) Since computers are being used quite a bit in Disney films now, does that mean there are no "genuine" cels from the movies? Unfortunately, the answer is no, there are no more original, hand- painted production cels that were used directly for on-screen images in any Disney animated feature film after The Little Mermaid. Hand-inked cels are created as color models during the production process, and hand-inked cels will probably be created for the purpose of auctioning backgrounds (note: if you look closely through the Sotheby's catalogue for the recent Mermaid auction, it is advertised as a background auction, not a cel auction). For the Sotheby's auction for Beauty and the Beast, Disney auctioned genuine backgrounds with one-of-a-kind cels created by hand by Disney artists based on the directing animator's drawings. See also question #4 for a discussion of cel types.